ENGSENCE vs Chengyu Calendar
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ENGSENCE
This English learning platform, developed by a Canadian, offers a comprehensive approach to mastering the language. It focuses on providing effective learning tools and resources for users aiming to improve their English skills.
- English language learning
- Comprehensive platform
- Effective learning tools
- Canadian developer
- Resource-rich
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Learn real English from podcast-style episodes on everyday topics. Tap any sentence and it plays from there, with subtitles that follow the voice. Key expressions are laid out in chat bubbles from Engeng, your teacher. - Choose US or UK pronunciation - Short business English videos you can use at work (BETA) - Today's ENGSENCE: one conversation card a day - VOCA BLAST, a word game where you pop keycaps - Review what you heard in three ways - Today's study progress in the Dynamic Island - Audio keeps playing even after you leave the app Supports Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Hindi, Vietnamese.
Chengyu Calendar
Learn a new Chinese idiom daily with a widget that mimics a traditional tear-off calendar. Explore idiom history, meanings, and usage examples. Supports both Simplified and Traditional Chinese characters and works offline without ads.
- Daily idiom widget
- Idiom breakdown (character, pinyin, meaning)
- Example sentences
- Idiom history and origin
- Simplified/Traditional character support
- Offline functionality
- Ad-free and private
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Build your Chinese, one idiom at a time. Chengyu Calendar puts a new Chinese idiom on your Home Screen every day, on a page designed after the traditional Chinese tear-off calendar. Glance at your phone, learn something new, and come back tomorrow for the next one. Chengyu (成语) are the short, vivid sayings Chinese speakers use every day. Each one carries a story, often centuries old, and knowing them makes your Chinese sound natural. ON YOUR HOME SCREEN The widget shows today's page, just like a real tear-off calendar: • The date, with the day of the week • The idiom, broken down character by character, with pinyin and an English meaning for each • What the whole idiom means • An example sentence, with pinyin and an English translation A new page arrives every morning. IN THE APP Tap the widget to open the full page and go deeper: • Its history: where the idiom came from, and how it came to mean what it does now • More examples: three more sentences showing how it's used, each with pinyin and an English translation TRADITIONAL OR SIMPLIFIED, 都可以! Switch between Simplified and Traditional characters at any time, and every page changes instantly. EVERY DETAIL, CONSIDERED Inspired by the Chinese daily tear-off calendar, Chengyu Calendar was designed to feel more like a physical object than a piece of software. Pages are printed in green on working days and in red on weekends and holidays, just like the real thing. SIMPLE AND PRIVATE • No account needed • Works offline • No ads and no tracking A page a day, made with care by a team of one. SUBSCRIPTION Chengyu Calendar requires a subscription, with weekly, monthly and yearly plans. Payment is charged to your Apple ID when you confirm your purchase. Your subscription renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before it ends. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple ID settings at any time. Terms of Use: https://chengyucalendar.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://chengyucalendar.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ENGSENCE at 4.6 against Chengyu Calendar's 3.9. ENGSENCE also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and device support (3 vs 1). Chengyu Calendar's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 days vs fortnightly). On price, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Chengyu Calendar sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. ENGSENCE asks for nothing beyond the download.
ENGSENCE holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13 and 8 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 95% of ENGSENCE's written reviews are positive against 100% of Chengyu Calendar's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
ENGSENCE ships an update fortnightly, Chengyu Calendar every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ENGSENCE | Chengyu Calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (13 ratings) — better | 3.9 (8 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 95.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 13 — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 71 MB | 107 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jiwon Hwang | Fiachra MacFadden |
Customer experience
ENGSENCE
Chengyu Calendar
In-app purchases
ENGSENCE
No in-app purchases
Chengyu Calendar
- Weekly3 Days trial$0.997 Days
- Monthly3 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Yearly3 Days trial$24.991 Year









